It brings back memories of staying after school, writing one hundred lines, but whatever is stealing time at Eden Research (Eden on Plus markets) it is not procrastination. The directors are not fiddling with simpler tasks and putting off taking on the big one, but time is still slipping by to the immense frustration of investors.

The big one most want to see is the announcement of a deal with Certis, one of two expected by the end of the year, with big partners taking up options to exploit Eden’s ground-breaking terpene and encapsulation technologies (there is acres of explanation in my many previous reports). That would follow news that Teva, the Israeli global pharmaceutical group, had taken up the option to develop various treatments in the animal health market, covered in my report ‘Eden Starts to Deliver’ of January 6.

Certis Europe, controlled ultimately by Japanese trading giant Mitsui, is looking at exercising an option to take up Eden’s nematicide technology (killing minute bugs which attack plant roots) outside North America. Certis had asked for additional trials with a view perhaps to widening the scope of the deal. Those results – though apparently successful - were delivered a little late. Now it appears that while Certis wants to go ahead, talks on varying the original terms are dragging on.

This should not be construed as negative. Eden is well aware of the obligation to inform investors should any significant deal fall through, and there has been no such announcement, and other companies are watching progress.

In fact there are negotiations over several deals involving other companies, at least one of them with a substantial North American company. There could also be news quite soon of another smaller agreement which has been quietly evolving over a fair while, and which would expand the scope of Eden’s opportunities into an important crop which has attracted little comment so far.

Talks on moving Eden to AIM are also progressing well. Several advisers have approached the company, and it appears agreement is close for a low-key and relatively inexpensive move. Timing? Anyone familiar with the small company game – and especially Eden – knows that is infinitely elastic. Maybe inside two months, but don’t expect any guarantees.

Indeed this is the message for any small company. The barrage of regulations is daunting, but the biggest obstacle to progress of any sort is the box-ticking culture which pervades any big company when concluding deals with innovative technology. Who in a big company is going to risk his career by signing up for something new without covering his back every which way with committee after committee?

Eden has money in the bank and a string of deals with big names in the offing, covering terpenes and encapsulation technology and addressing massive markets – alongside agriculture and animal health, even the old head lice solutions are still in play.

As for the share price, a sizeable seller remains. It appears that this is actually a group of Norwegian investors who were highly enthusiastic some while back, but that at least one of the main players has seen a fish farming business go bust, while there are also links to a global technology company which has hit hard times. There is speculation that Eden shares are being sold to fill a hole.

Please note that the bulk of this post is vague and speculative, though we might not be away from firm announcements. Until major agreements are signed and sealed and operating successfully, Eden remains what it has always been – a tempting high risk, high return play – though at last there is actual money in the bank.